The Rose in the Sand
By Pastor Justin Cooper
Close your eyes and picture a real desert with me. Not the pretty white sand of a postcard. I mean rocky, sharp, dirty sand. Stones and boulders. Cactus. Snakes and scorpions. The dried bones of some animal that didn't make it. Nothing about it looks like a place where life belongs.
And then, right out of that cracked ground, a single rose pushes up and blooms. It adds color to a drab landscape and fragrance to dead air. You weren't looking for beauty out there — but there it is.
That's what Jesus does. When you and I are in the desert, we spend most of our energy counting what isn't there. No water. No shelter. No crowd. No relief. But the better question was never what's missing. It's who is present.
"Don't sell God's property to the devil. God owns that."
"Don't sell God's property to the devil. God owns that."
Pastor Justin Cooper
Gospel Light Baptist Church
Sometimes you and I get into a dry season and start to think we've wandered off the map — into the territory of the enemy, into a place God has forgotten. But God holds the title deed to every point and place you will ever stand. Mountain and valley. Green pasture and desert. He was there in Midian when Moses found Him. He was there in Babylon when Daniel found Him. He was there in the darkness of Genesis 1 before there was anyone else to be there.
The Bible says the desert itself will one day answer to Him.
"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose."
— Isaiah 35:1
Here's the part I don't want you to miss. Those thirty desert years were not wasted years for John. They were the years of training and tempering and developing. He learned who he was out there, and more than that, he learned who God was. The desert was simply the season in between what he used to be and what he was going to be.
So the question now isn't whether you can survive the desert. It's what you'll do while you're in it. This week, take one step you've been putting off until conditions felt easier. Make the call. Keep the commitment. Serve someone even though you're the one who feels empty. Don't wait for the Jordan to start walking with God — walk with Him right here, and let the desert become the place He develops you.
There is a rose in your landscape. Look around until you find it.
Lord, You own this ground I'm standing on. This is not the devil's territory — it's Yours, and so am I. While I wait for the victory, make me faithful in the middle. Grow something in this dry place that could only grow here. I'm looking for the rose, and I'm looking for You. In Jesus' name, amen.
Reflection: What is one step of obedience I've been delaying until my season gets easier — and what would it look like to take it this week instead?
